Army Ranger with Benefits (the Men of At-Ease Ranch) Read online

  “Hey.” He grinned. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t get mad, I get even. That’s the other reason I asked you to meet me out here.”

  “Oh?” She raised a brow.

  “Seems to me my brother is going to need a sitter while we go bowling tonight.” His grin turned devious. “Do you still have Chelsea’s number?”

  She laughed, loving where his mind dwelled. “Yes, I do.”

  It was time to show it went both ways.

  “I’ve got you covered, Vince.” Emma winked at him and scrolled through her contacts. “Leave this to me.”

  Chapter Eight

  Ten minutes to seven, Emma knocked on the door and breezed into the kitchen, looking cuter than she should, wearing jeans and a rust-colored top with slits in the arms that showed off her tanned shoulders. With more than his interest pricked, Vince regained perspective by turning his attention to what she carried.

  The biggest damn double-crusted pie he’d ever seen.

  “Sweet.” Dom eyed the dessert from his chair at the corner of the island. “Is that peach?”

  She walked to him and held the pie under his nose. “Yes, it is.”

  Dom inhaled, closed his eyes, and moaned. “My mouth is watering just thinking about it.” His eyes snapped open. “Vince, prepare to enjoy someone else’s great cooking for a change. Emma’s an excellent baker. The rec center holds a bake sale every year, and her stand always sells out.” His brother paused to frown. “That’s coming up soon, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.” She nodded. “Next Saturday. And don’t worry. Your brother is definitely going to enjoy this pie.” She drew back and walked straight to Vince, and with a flourish, handed him the pie. “I made this for you.”

  Unexpected warmth spread through his chest. No one, other than relatives, had ever baked for him before.

  Dom gazed longingly at the pie. “Just him?”

  “Yes, unless he wants to share.” She turned a hard stare on his brother. “He stuck more than his neck out for me today, thanks to you.”

  Amusement twitched the asshole’s lips, but longing continued to rule his gaze as he watched Emma grab the pie and a knife and cut a large piece of what looked to be peach perfection. “It was just a little joke. We do it to each other all the time. Tell her, Vince.”

  True. Growing up, they pulled pranks almost daily. The bigger they got, the bigger the prank. But at the moment, he felt no need to enlighten Emma. The show was too enjoyable.

  Nodding his thanks, he took the big plate of pie she handed him, and could’ve sworn his brother wiped drool from his mouth. Not one to miss an opportunity, Vince made a show of lifting a forkful close to his nose and inhaling.

  “Emma, if this tastes as incredible as it smells, then my brother is right. I’m in for a treat.” Holding it there a few seconds, he waited until he heard his brother grumble before finally shoving the forkful in his mouth.

  An instant, in-your-face introduction to the sweet, succulent fruit pleased his palate. Damn, Dom wasn’t kidding. He savored the flavors until he finally swallowed. “This is terrific.” The combination of fresh peaches, cinnamon, and nutmeg was killer. He took another bite. Then another. And yet another, enjoying the drool-worthy treasure, vaguely aware of his brother’s bellyaching.

  “Aw, come on, Vince. You can spare a slice.”

  “Why should he?” Emma jammed her hands on her hips and stared his brother down.

  A sweet little Georgia peach taking on the Jersey dragon. It was possibly more delicious than the pie.

  Dom shifted in his chair. “Because he already got me back.”

  She raised a brow, but remained silent.

  “I fell off the couch when he came home, and he left me on the floor. Took me ten damn minutes to get to my feet.”

  Damn straight. “Tell her why you fell on the floor.”

  Emma narrowed her eyes at his brother. “Why?”

  Dom’s gaze dropped to the counter and he shrugged. “Because pain radiated across my back and hip.”

  “Yeah.” Vince scoffed. “From laughing too hard after I flipped you off when you asked how the probing went.”

  Bastard had laughed so hard he’d winced, and eventually rolled off the couch and onto the floor.

  “What?” Dom stared at him with an innocent expression. “I was talking about your interrogation of Stephan.”

  Vince snorted. “You were, my ass.”

  “Yeah,” Dom deadpanned. “That, too.”

  At the time, he’d thought about helping his brother up, until the idiot continued to snicker.

  Like now.

  No, wait…that was… “Emma?”

  “Sorry.” Her face was flushed, and her eyes were bright as she slammed a hand over her mouth. “I’m going to hell, I know,” she said through her fingers. “But that was kind of funny.”

  He blew out a breath. “It’d be funnier if it’d happened to someone else.”

  A second later, her laughter mixed with Dom’s and drew a grin from him, because she was right.

  Dammit.

  It was funny.

  He waved his fork at them, lips twitching. “Now you’re both on my shit list.”

  “Understood.” His brother nodded. “But can I have some pie?”

  Taking pity on the guy, he cut him a piece and pushed it close. “Yeah, we have time.” No reason to withhold a slice of heaven when, any minute, retribution was due to ring the doorbell.

  “Emma?” He pointed to her creation.

  She shook her head and settled onto a stool. “No thanks. I taste-tested through the process.”

  An act Vince understood all too well. He cooked the same way. Always guaranteed a delicious outcome.

  Halfway through his pie, Dom stopped to frown at him. “Wait…what do you mean you have time? Are you going somewhere?”

  “Yeah.” Vince carried his fork and plate to the sink, then grabbed plastic wrap and covered what was left of his thank-you gift. “Emma and I have our first date tonight.”

  His brother’s gaze bounced between him and Emma. “Great. Where?”

  “At the bowling alley,” Emma replied. “Stephan will be there.”

  Dom cocked his head. “I knew you were going to play the new-in-the-area-and-looking-for-fun card, bro, but I never thought he’d actually tell you where he was going to be tonight. How the hell did you manage to find that out? What did you have to do? Two fing—”

  “Don’t finish that sentence,” Vince cut in. “Or I’ll be forced to book the sitter for more than one night.”

  His brother’s brows crashed together. “Sitter? What sitter?”

  “The one due any minute now.”

  “Ah, to hell with that,” Dom grumbled, waving his hand in the air. “I don’t need watching. Cancel whoever it is.”

  Headlights flashed through the kitchen window as a car pulled into the driveway.

  Vince grinned at his brother. “Too late.” This was going to be good. “It’s true what they say about payback.”

  His brother’s spine stiffened. “What the hell did you do?”

  “We,” Emma corrected, jabbing a finger at Vince, then herself. “Payback’s a beeotch, and this one happens to wear flip-flops.” Smiling, she headed to answer the knock on the back door.

  All the color drained from his brother’s face. “Oh, hell-fucking-no.” Dom rose to his feet, no doubt ready to take flight.

  Vince clamped a hand on his brother’s tense shoulder and pressed him back in his seat. “Now don’t be rude.”

  Before his brother could react, Emma opened the door and grinned. “Chelsea, thanks so much for coming on such short notice.”

  “You’re a dead man walking,” his brother muttered, shaking him off. Then cursed under his breath, no doubt in pain from the sudden movement.

  “No, I’m a smart man getting even,” he said, then turned his attention to the woman entering the house.

  “It’s my pleasure,” Chelsea told Emma. “Thanks for call
ing.”

  To say he was surprised was an understatement. The way his brother had acted, Vince assumed the woman was an ogre. Instead, an attractive woman, with hair the color of honey, wearing cute glasses, a bright-yellow sundress, and matching flip-flops rushed forward.

  “Dom, oh my goodness, look at you.” She set her large yellow purse on the counter, then turned to his brother and cupped his face. “What happened? You should be in bed. You look awful.”

  Vince snickered. “We tried telling him that.” He thrust his hand out. “I’m his brother Vince, by the way.”

  “Nice to meet you, Vince,” she said. “I’m Chelsea, and he’s in good hands now. You two go have fun. Don’t worry about a thing.”

  “Thanks, Chelsea. I appreciate that.” He smiled. “My brother can’t do the stairs yet, so we have him set up in the guest room down the hall.”

  Dom’s jaw was clamped so tight his lips nearly disappeared. Vince held back a grin. He wasn’t through just yet.

  “And help yourself to some of my peach pie,” Emma said, walking close to slip her arm through his. “If he gives you any trouble, call me.”

  Good one.

  Vince led a smiling Emma to the door where he turned around to face the other couple. “Oh, and he hasn’t had his shower yet. He’ll need help, but if it’s too much, don’t worry, I’ll take care of it when I get home.”

  He wanted to make his brother uncomfortable, not poor Chelsea.

  “Oh.” She blinked, then moved behind his brother to pat his shoulder. “No worries. I’m sure we can manage.”

  Dom’s hands were curled into fists on his lap, and his left eye twitched as he glared across the kitchen at Vince. Exactly the look he was going for. It embodied how he’d felt that morning during his exam.

  Mouth curving into a grin, Vince saluted his brother before ushering a snickering Emma out the door.

  Once they were in his car and on their way, she turned to him and laughed. “Oh my God, did you see Dom’s face? It was priceless.”

  “I know.” He grinned. “Thanks for getting her to come over.”

  “Are you kidding?” Emma chuckled. “She told me not to worry about a thing. Even offered to stay the night if I wanted to take you back to my place.”

  Vince’s heart dropped to his gut. “What?”

  Emma laughed. “I know. She’s eager to spend time with your brother.”

  That wasn’t the reason for his reaction. No. That would be the part about Emma taking him back to her place.

  His favorite body part woke up and hell yeah-ed the suggestion. But, since this wasn’t a real date, that body part wasn’t invited tonight.

  He turned onto another road, and after a few minutes of silence, glanced at his quiet passenger. She was staring at him.

  “What?”

  Emma shrugged. “It’s just that I half expected to walk in tonight and find you and Dom with busted lips or something.”

  The woman had no idea how close Vince had been to doing just that when he’d returned from his appointment. It was only thoughts of tonight’s planned torment for Dom that had kept his fists to himself.

  “Thought had crossed my mind, believe me. So did dosing his meal with laxative so he’d have to ask Chelsea for help cleaning up.”

  “Oh my God.” Emma covered her mouth and laughed. “You didn’t, though, right? Not that I’d blame you.”

  He smiled, liking the flush in her cheeks and the gleam happiness brought to her eyes. She needed to be happy more often. No man could resist the sparkle in those baby blues.

  Including him.

  Alarm bells went off in his head. He gave himself a mental shake.

  The best thing to do was keep her in this happy mood tonight—so Stephan would take notice and take action. Because the longer Vince was around this woman, the more he was going to like her. Which was bad. He was there to help. Not hinder.

  Or hurt.

  “No, I didn’t put anything in his food,” he finally replied, glancing sideways at her.

  She brushed a strand of hair off her face and cocked her head. “You know, there’s a chance my pie could send him to the bathroom, too.”

  He raised a brow. “Did you do something to it?”

  “What? No.” She laughed. “I’d never do that to you or him. I just meant that maybe the fruit and his medication won’t agree with each other.”

  “Ah. I see.” He pondered this as he turned into the bowling alley parking lot and parked near the entrance. Pocketing the keys, he turned to smirk at her. “Now you’re just trying to make me feel better. Easing my need for revenge because of my uncomfortable ordeal this morning.”

  Her eyes twinkled under her raised brows. “Is it working?”

  The woman had a whole lot of things working that had no business working.

  He shifted in his seat. “Yeah. It is.” So was the fact she appeared to genuinely want him to be happy.

  In a few short days, he’d gotten to know her well enough to realize she had the power to capture more than his attention. She was beautiful, smart, had a great sense of humor, and baked one hell of a peach pie. The woman was dangerous to his well-being. Because of this, he needed to hook her up with Stephan. And fast.

  Tonight, Vince would do what he could to make the doc notice Emma.

  Chapter Nine

  Emma wasn’t sure why Vince’s gaze suddenly turned serious, but before she could question him, he blinked, and a friendly expression returned to his handsome face. Which was a relief, since she needed to bring up what they should do on their “date.”

  “Are you ready?” he asked.

  “Almost.” She nodded, then glanced down at the skinny jeans she brushed with her hand. “I…we should probably discuss what…well, how we should act.”

  Shoot. She better not stumble over her tongue all night. It was no way to impress Stephan or his friends. And she knew all about the influence of friends.

  It was Macy’s suggestion that put Emma in her current predicament. So, yeah, she knew how much influence a friend had, and counted on Stephan’s friends tonight. If she made a good impression, perhaps they’d encourage him to pursue her…despite her date.

  She sighed.

  Vince touched her arm. “What’s wrong?”

  “Well, I was just wondering…what if Stephan doesn’t ask me out because of you?”

  “I gave that some thought.” His gaze was confident and sure as he turned in his seat to face her. “How about this? We’ll make it clear that we’re keeping things casual. Hanging out and having a good time, but not attached.”

  That kind of made sense.

  “Yeah.” She rubbed her chin. “Okay. That could work.”

  He smiled. “Okay then. Tell me what you want me to do tonight. How close are we supposed to be? Have we been dating? Kissed? Slept together yet?”

  Slept together?

  Butterflies—on freaking fire—swarmed through her belly at the thought of having sex with the man.

  But he wasn’t the man she wanted to date, so she immediately banished the thought. Her heart was set on Stephan. Not an ex-soldier leaving Georgia in a few weeks. Been there, done that, no thanks. There was no reason to entertain thoughts of any kind other than friendship where Vince was concerned.

  Bringing her mind back to the conversation, she decided to take a logical approach and keep things as truthful as possible. “No. We haven’t.” She couldn’t bring herself to say “slept together” while staring into his warm brown gaze. “I think this should be our first date. So we haven’t done anything, yet.”

  Yet being the optimal word. She wasn’t stupid. At some point, they were going to have to kiss in front of Stephan. She really hoped she wouldn’t like it. In fact, Emma was counting on that. Otherwise, things were going to get complicated.

  He nodded. “Makes the most sense, too. He knows I’m here to help my brother, so once he realizes Dom’s your neighb—”

  “He already knows,” she spoke up,
remembering her conversation with Stephan right after the exam. “He told Macy and I about you going to basic with his brother, then Macy—and her big mouth—told him I knew you, too.”

  A smile twitched his lips. “That woman’s a firecracker. I’m surprised she didn’t tell him I was your boyfriend.”

  “Yeah.” Emma rubbed the shin her friend had kicked. “Darn woman knows we’re just supposed to be casual.”

  He sat back in his seat. “Okay, since this is our first date, then hand holding it is.” He glanced at her and winked. “Are you ready?”

  No. Yes. Lord give her strength.

  She nodded again and reached for the door.

  “Don’t even think it,” he said. “I get the doors for women I date. And don’t try to give me any crap about our date being fake, because it needs to appear as real as possible.”

  Releasing the handle, she turned to him and saluted. “Yes, sir, General, sir.”

  His chuckle filled the space between them. “You can drop the rank, smart-ass. But,” he said in a tone that matched the mischievous gleam entering his eyes. “I’m not opposed to the ‘sir.’”

  She snorted. “That’ll be the day.”

  “Can’t blame a guy for trying.” He smirked as he got out of the car.

  Admittedly, Emma felt a little odd waiting while he walked around to open her door. None of the guys she dated did that. They opened doors to restaurants and places they frequented, but never made her wait in the car until they could get her door.

  It was new. And kind of nice.

  Warmth spread through her chest, and when he held his hand out to help her from the car, a rush of heat filled her cheeks. Lordy, the man was attentive. And because it made her wonder if he was attentive in other relationship aspects, she shut off those dangerous thoughts and took his hand.

  After helping her from the car, he continued to hold on to her. Emma tried her best to ignore the tingling spreading up her arm as he ushered her inside and through a crowd to a counter where he rented a lane and shoes.

  “They’re part of a team, right?” She motioned toward people in colorful shirts.